It’s 38 degrees in the meat room at Texas Roadhouse. Prospero Sotelo has been at work since 5 a.m. hand cutting the steaks served at the restaurant each day.
Each day at work is like practice for the upcoming Texas Roadhouse National Meat Cutting Challenge, Sotelo said.
Sotelo will compete for a $20,000 prize and the title of Meat-Cutter of the Year at the NMCC, which takes place at the Ice Factory skating rink in Kissimmee, Florida, March 8 through 10.
“The National Meat Cutters Challenge is the only competition of its kind,” Jason Mennie, Texas Roadhouse senior director of Legendary Food, said in a press release. “Meat cutters from stores all across America will be coming together to see who is the best of the best. It instills passion, integrity and pride into each meat cutter individually and gives them a sense of ownership.”
In the competition, each participant receives 30 to 40 pounds of beef, consisting of two sirloins, one filet and one ribeye to cut.
Sotelo has worked at Texas Roadhouse since 2000 and has competed at the NMCC 11 times.
He won the title of Meat-Cutter of the Year in 2005 and said he hopes to win again in 2016.
Sotelo is originally from outside of Mexico City. He came to the U.S. 17 years ago looking for a better life, he said.
Sotelo started in the kitchen at Texas Roadhouse, and after two years he moved up to butcher after learning meat cutting techniques on the job, he said.
The most difficult part of transitioning to the new job was dealing with the temperature in the meat room, which is always set at 38 degrees to keep the meat fresh and high quality, Sotelo said. Sometimes he works there for up to eight hours.
“I wear three or four layers of sweaters,” Sotelo said. “I just listen to music and do my stuff.”
Texas Roadhouse has cut measurements and specifications for each steak. Delgado said Sotelo is an expert.
“He knows them all by heart now,” Delgado said. “He’s really good with knives.”
Sotelo has never cut himself on the job. He slices 150 pounds of meat each day during the week and 300 pounds on the weekend, without a scratch.
However, he no longer eats much meat, Sotelo said.
“Most of the time it’s seafood,” Sotelo said. “I’m sick of meat.”
Texas Roadhouse is proud of Sotelo, local store marketer Amie Kenny said. Above the cooler filled with the steaks he hand-cuts each day, the restaurant displays Sotelo’s dozens of meat cutting awards.
“He’s very modest,” Kenny said. “He won’t talk about them or let us take them out. He doesn’t know what to do with them.”
Sotelo balances his job at Texas Roadhouse with taking classes at Ivy Tech. He said he takes classes in math and electricity and hopes to work in heating and air conditioning eventually.
“He’s a pretty smart guy,” Restaurant Manager Cristian Delgado said. “He’s just a witty guy overall. We can’t wait to see him win again.”
